To LTE? Or not to LTE? —

Chip delays point to next-gen iPhone launch around October

Qualcomm has had trouble ramping up production of its 28nm LTE chips.

Will Apple return to its usual summer launch for its next iPhone revision, or will it repeat last year's fall unveiling of the iPhone 4S? The latest news from baseband supplier Qualcomm suggests the iPhone update will happen closer to October due to manufacturing delays.

Apple has switched its mobile device to use cellular baseband chips from Qualcomm, which include support for multiple standards, including 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, and 3G EV-DO. However, the first-generation LTE chip used in the latest iPad required a significant boost in battery to maintain its usual 10-hour running time.

Qualcomm had expected to launch a second-generation design using a 28nm manufacturing process during the second quarter of this year. But those plans are now changing; the company announced during its quarterly financial results that it has run into delays ramping up the manufacturing process to meet demand.

"At this stage we cannot secure enough supply to meet the increasing demand we are experiencing," CEO Paul Jacobs told analysts on a conference call. As noted by Reuters, the short supply could slow rollouts of new LTE smartphones, including the next-gen iPhone.

The 28nm chip—the MDM9615—is expected to be significantly more power efficient than the current MDM9600 used in the iPad. That efficiency will be essential to delivering an LTE-equipped version of the iPhone as is widely expected this year.

It's possible that Apple may have been targeting October all along, but the delays from Qualcomm make that timeframe much more likely than a summer launch.